Standard Disclaimers Apply

Pairing: HP/OC also HP/DM later

Summary: HP/OC, HP/DM The shock of a sudden change in appearance tears a hole in the fabric of time, sending Harry back to 998 A.D. Upon discovering only 3 of the 4 Founders, Harry accidentally takes on the role of the 4th Founder.

Warning: Creature Harry, Time travel, eventual Slash and Mpreg,

Note: Dual-author fic.

The Founder

Chapter 3 - And In The Seventh Month the Founders Rested

By gemroses

Harry, or Salazar as he was now to be called, hadn't enjoyed the meeting where Helga, Rowena and Godric taught the villagers. He had been annoyed throughout, half expecting muggles to discover them and because half the villagers didn't even have a correct hold on their wands, not to mention their wands were not made to the same high quality as his own was.

After the meeting Salazar had been asked to accompany the other founders to Godric's home where they'd be staying for a week. Salazar had thought, from their comments, that Godric didn't live too far away but he was grossly mistaken. He summoned his things to him and climbed in the carriage after the two ladies. It took them a horrible 4hour coach journey to get to Gryffindor Castle and the ride had made Salazar extremely travel sick. They'd even had to stop the carriage a few times where upon Salazar had launched himself out of the door and threw up onto the ground. He'd cleaned himself up afterwards of course but in his nauseated state he wasn't good company in the carriage.

Upon arrival to the castle Godric and his female companions sent Salazar straight to bed after instructing a servant to lead the way for Salazar. Upon entering the large room Salazar had walked over to his bed and literally collapsed onto it swearing he would never travel that way again.

The following morning Salazar woke up to bright rays of sunshine pouring through the window decorated with red curtains. Since Salazar hadn't closed the windows the previous night he supposed that it was all his fault that the light had woken him up. He rolled himself out of bed, grimacing at the animal skins that he'd been lead on. Stripping off his clothes he went over to the bathtub which was near the centre of the room. Next to it was a pot, which he assumed was his toilet. Not particularly amused with having to use the chamber pot Harry did his business and banished the mess. Then he cast a water spell on the bath, rather than calling a servant to fill it for him, and bathed.

After his bath he dressed quickly and exited his room. Once outside his rooms he was met with a man servant who extremely politely told him to follow. Salazar followed the man through the stone halls and down the stone stairway and through some more halls until they came to a dining room.

Inside the room Salazar saw a large oak table with chairs at regular intervals around it. At the head of the table was Godric Gryffindor while next to him were Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff.

"Ah, Salazar Slytherin I see you have awakened. Do take a seat and break this fast with us." Salazar, not knowing the customs for formal dining in this day and age, thanked Godric as politely as he could and moved to sit down next to Helga. Once sat he was served a plateful of food, a broth of some kind, and given some wine. Not liking the idea of drinking wine at breakfast he asked for plain water which he received only to find the water was anything but clean.

They ate in silence mostly but after they had all finished eating Helga started asking him questions to make small talk and break the silence. The questions seemed to go on forever and Salazar felt himself becoming flustered with trying to keep up with the questions fired as well as make his answers seem plausible. Eventually he was rescued though.

"To business then." Salazar nodded his head to Rowena's straight forwardness. He had seen her growing more and more impatient at Helga's small talk and to be honest he was rather relieved that she had the nerve to change the subject for he didn't want to upset the bright red head.

"I agree with Lady Ravenclaw."

"Very well." Helga said, her expression dimming a bit. Rowena ignored her and turned to Salazar.

"You were very adamant and fierce with your words yesterday so I believe you to be as anxious as I when it comes to learning. Tell me, are you still determined to build a school with us?"

"Definitely. It is not safe to practise magic the way everyone does. And last night they weren't even grasping the basics like holding their wands." Godric and Helga went in to defend their pupils but Rowena spoke across them quickly, ignoring the furious look Godric gave her.

"I quite agree. They have made bad habits. Education is the only way to change their ignorance though and practise is the only way to break their habits."

"And educating them is our department." Salazar said leaning back in his chair stress plainly on his features. He was frowning, mentally in conflict over the same issue but from several confusing view points.

"Exactly." Rowena smirked in a decidedly triumphant, if not a little smug. Salazar nodded again.

"Well it wouldn't be that hard to build a school would it?" Helga asked softly. Godric and the others looked at her urging her to continue. "We just have to construct a building with some rooms in we can use to practise."

"Yes, doesn't sound too hard." Godric agreed. "We could easily hire some trolls to do the construction work for us. With workers that cheep and strong we could have the school rooms built within a week. So how many class rooms should it have, one classroom for each of us?"

"Well that's all that would be needed isn't it? We can have our own group of people to instruct depending on who wants to learn what I suppose. Like for example Godric I'm sure you'd include sword fighting as well as spells. Naturally we will need to train the girls separately and in all matters concerning a woman. I will teach cooking and what have you, train the young ladies to be wives and act properly." Harry started spluttering at the way Helga said that and stared at her wide eyed.

"Wives?!" He asked still gaping. Helga frowned at him not understanding his shock. "You are going to train them to be wives?"

"Yes, it is a woman's place why should I not help train them? If we are to build a school we should not limit what we teach our pupils."

"Well yes I agree with teaching them as much as we can successfully teach but….what…how the hell do you train someone to be a wife?!"

"By training them to act with proper decorum! Teach them how to tend to the house, to the children and the garden. Teach them what spells to use to aid them in their every day task. Teach them how to take care of their husband."

"But that's…you want to take the girls and just teach them how to be all…pathetic!" Helga and Godric reared back stunned by Salazar's loud declaration. Salazar didn't seem to notice, he was still in shock and angry at what had been suggested. "You want to only teach them how to take care of the house? You aren't going to teach them anything else? No protective spells, no potions, no hexes?"

"Why should they learn spells used in duels?" Godric asked completely perplexed. "Women are no good fighting, they are weak and cowardly. Their place is in the house and in their husband's bed." Helga nodded her head fiercely.

"Yes I quiet agree! It is improper for a woman to fight. She is a nurturer of the home not a warrior." Harry stared at her before he scowled and leaned back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest.

"I cannot believe you put yourselves into such a lowly category. I personally have never believed someone below me in station or knowledge just because they were female! I had thought from the way you three keep each other company and fight to feed knowledge to the people that you were against such ridiculous prejudices. Fine, teach your students to be perfect little trophy wives with no character and no personality of their own. Teach them to be submissive and think they are only worthy enough to be used as a breeding mare to the highest bidder. I, on the other hand, will teach everyone, regardless of their gender, to fight, to protect, to brew and to cast."

"You cannot possibly be that idiotic to think a woman would manage to cast duelling spells!" Godric yelled at Salazar while Helga looked completely dismayed and horrified at the prospect of girls learning such dangerous, manly, subjects.

"I will teach them what ever I feel they need to be taught. From there we shall see whose students come out better people for it hmm?" Salazar sneered, suddenly feeling very much like the Slytherin's from his time. Godric was just about to pull his wand on Salazar when Rowena quickly interjected.

"We have not even built a school yet so there is no reason to be fighting over what shall be taught and to whom!" Salazar nodded his head to her words and she continued. "Now, we have plans to make in order for us to even build a school."

"Well as I recommended before," Helga said softly but refusing to look at Salazar, "a room for each one of us should be enough."

"Really, and where do you suggest we put those rooms hmm?" Salazar asked trying to keep his voice neutral. "Where should they be built? On a mountain? By the sea? No. A few rooms would not be sufficient. You have failed to consider where we shall live between the hours we teach our students and where they shall live between classes."

"They shall go home of course!" Godric countered since Helga was adamantly refusing to look at Salazar let alone speak to him now. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment and anger.

"Really? If you planned, as I thought you had when I joined your little group, to teach all those with magical capabilities then you are going to need more than a few rooms to train them! Some with magic live as far away as Exeter way down south and even further in some cases. I cannot really see them coming to our school rooms just to be taught and then return home in the evenings."

"Then they should find lodgings around the town where our rooms shall be placed." Rowena said. "And so should we."

"That is unacceptable. We would be uncomfortable in lodgings and nowhere I have seen has been hygienic either. Besides, from the way you speak you seem to believe we shall only be teaching them for a short amount of time."

"Well we will be." Godric argued.

"Magic is a complex subject and it cannot be learned in a few short weeks. It takes years to master for some people, others are lucky to manage it sufficiently in one year alone."

"I will have you know that I learned magic in only a few short weeks!" Helga said staring at Salazar finally. Salazar rolled his eyes.

"Yes but from what I can hear you've only learned how to take care for the house and those are easy spells I can assure you of that. A mere wave of your wand and you can clean up a lot of mess, you are hardly talking about complex magic. I'm going to assume you don't even know the magical creatures, the different plants and plant life around and how to shield a house from view, from muggles and from evil."

"You know how to do things like that? Shield a house from muggles? Make it so they can't see us?" Rowena asked looking and sounding completely astonished. Salazar blushed sheepishly.

"I cannot do that no but I have seen it done many a time. It takes power but it does in fact work brilliantly. No muggle could see the building and should they venture too close they'd feel the need to turn away, remember they had an appointment somewhere and leave. It was a brilliant thing, complex and powerful but so indescribably useful!"

"You are getting off track." Godric said. "Where would you suggest we build the school rooms then Salazar, since you seem to know everything." Salazar and Godric stared at each other trying to overpower the other with mere looks. Salazar finally looked away and looked to the ceiling as if the wood above his head would offer him a the way to construct his next sentence.

"Well I suggest we don't build rooms. I suggest we build a castle. A huge castle, hundreds of rooms, classrooms, a feast hall and everything! That way all of the teachers can have their own living space, each of our students can stay inside the castle where they will be safe to practise between classes while being comfortable and where we can watch over them. Also with a castle you have natural defences and should any muggles see the castle most of them would just turn away because of all the ranking in society. Besides, should any muggles come into the castle, like muggles with Lordships or what have you then they would need only see the feasting halls and some of the private rooms. We could then have rules in place that should a muggle stay with us at the castle then magic is only permitted within the safety of certain private areas.

"Also with a castle, seeing how you are used to all this…um…luxury and space," Salazar seemed uncertain on the words but carried on quickly, "then your own rooms could reflect your tastes and you can still be living comfortably."

Silence met his idea. Rowena seemed to be pondering it, her mind working out everything he said and coming up with different scenarios to everything. Godric seemed surprised by the idea, as if building a castle as a school was so far fetched an idea it was beyond his brains capacity to think about it. Helga just seemed baffled by it and Salazar, in his scorn, came to the conclusion that his idea had made her brain malfunction considering she seemed to resemble a fish somewhat in the way her mouth opened and closed slowly.

"A castle…I can understand how your suggestion would work Salazar," Rowena slowly pronounced in a soft, kind voice making Salazar wonder how he thought her cold before. "However, the time it would take, not to mention the money, is something we can't afford. While your idea has merit, you solved how we'd teach them and gave everyone comforts, there is no feasible way to build a castle as big as you are suggesting."

"Not to mention having commoners in a castle?! Unheard of! Utterly preposterous." Godric cried only to be ignored by Salazar who was looking at Rowena with a slightly pleading expression on his face.

"But I have the money! I have enough money. I can build a castle Lady Ravenclaw, honestly I can. I also have the time to. I have no other commitments and besides, didn't Lord Gryffindor say that trolls were cheap labour?" Rowena nodded slowly and Salazar sat up straighter. "Well I can pay them, watch over the castle being built and at the end of it we will have our school! It would work I promise you!"

"Salazar…" Rowena began slowly trying to find a way to let the young man down slowly from his idea. "To build a castle would cost around 200 gold pieces. I am a woman, there is no money I can call upon for my husband deals with the fortunes. Helga has no control over any money for she is awaiting her marriage. The only one with money on hand is you and Godric and Godric has only half the money needed while you…you cannot afford it. You have no title as your own. You have no station and from what you told Helga earlier you have no home either. I find it hard to believe you can afford to build a castle, pay for the workers and fit the castle when you sleep under the heavens."

"I quite agree. I've had enough of your nonsense, Slytherin." Godric sneered at Salazar who merely glanced at him before looking back to Rowena.

"Please, I can honestly. I have the money, let me prove it to you!"

"Your idiocy and impertinence to those above you is unbelievable! I, Godric Ambrose Gryffindor, challenge you Salazar Slytherin to a duel of honour!" Salazar sighed and went to decline but Godric pulled his sword. "To decline is to show your weakness, Slytherin! You claim to know all these incredible things but I am of the belief that all you say is merely hot air that carries no weight."

"Very well then Lord Gryffindor, since you are of such a belief it is only fair I show you otherwise!" Salazar stood and moved clear of the table before pulling out his wand. "What are your terms to this duel? Seconds?"

"No seconds. We duel right here, right now, Slytherin."

"And what happens if you win?"

"If I win then you will leave this castle, leave this place and never attempt to contact myself, Lady Ravenclaw or Lady Hufflepuff, soon to be Baroness Hatchedore!"

"Very well then, agreed. However, should I win you will help me with building this school and listen to anything I suggest." Salazar paused momentarily and pondered something. "Also, should I win then you will publicly acknowledge me as your superior magically. Understood?" Gryffindor snorted at the impossibility of him ever having to concede to those terms.

"Very well." Godric moved so they were facing each other and pulled his wand and his sword. Giving Salazar a grin Godric yelled to him before charging forwards. "Now we duel! PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

"Protego." Harry said and flicked his wand. The body bind spell bounced off the powerful shield's resonance and Salazar quickly levelled his wand at Godric and whispered two spells in quick succession. "Expelliarmus. Wingardium Leviosa."

Godric's wand and sword flew to Salazar who caught it easily and Godric himself, who was still charging towards Salazar having not noticed both his sword and his wand were in Salazar's possession flew up into the air where Salazar held him effortlessly with the spell.

It took a few seconds but Godric suddenly realised that he was in the air looking down on his female companions who were still sat at the table and at Salazar who was looking up at him with a bored expression on his face. Helga and Rowena were staring at Salazar with amazement. Godric was a good duellist, he'd fought in two wars, one in the muggle and one in the magical world, and had come off the victor. People were scared of his power and Rowena, for all her knowledge, didn't know of a way to block the body bind spell from hitting it's target. Unless you dodged the spell, which not many people could do, then there was no way to shield yourself from it.

"How did you…" Godric started staring at the young man below him. Salazar looked up at him and smiled.

"I think I need to broaden your spell arson, Lord Gryffindor. Now, I won the duel and you will honour the agreement, won't you?"

"Yes." Godric said still in awe at what had happened. The body binding spell was the most powerful spell in his arson. How had that man, one no older than seventeen summers, managed to effortlessly avoid the spell without moving either.

Salazar let Godric down and they all sat at the table once more. Salazar knew he was blushing a famous red with the stares he was getting from his three companions so he quickly started speaking.

"I have in my possession over 1000 gold pieces which my parents left to me when they died. I have enough to build a castle. If I deal with expenses will you aid me in building it?"

"O-o-of course…"

The day after Godric and Salazar had duelled all four of them made plans for the castle with Rowena scribing what they were saying because Salazar, while he could write, was far too involved with speaking his ideas than writing them all down. They'd come to the conclusion that they needed a dungeon, three layers of dungeons, and several towers. Salazar couldn't remember the reasoning but he hadn't said no. In fact, he specifically remembered saying that he wanted the castle to be huge with lots of towers and thousands of rooms. No-one had argued, though they did look astonished.

Before they had called in the army of trolls to build the castle Rowena, Helga, Godric and Salazar had traipsed around trying to find places for the castle to go. Salazar had turned down ever place they suggested, finding faults with every place. He eventually got everybody back to Hogsmeade where he took them through the forest and up to the top of the hill there. HE told them that he'd wanted to build his castle right there. Godric and the others had immediately protested because of the trees and the lake not to mention how the ground wasn't flat. Salazar had persisted though and eventually the others had given in.

Godric had pulled his sword and was about to start chopping down the trees when he'd been stopped by an army of wood nymphs. To say everyone was surprised would have been an understatement. Salazar had been the first person to get his composure back though and, after getting Godric free from nymph punishment, had made an agreement with the nymphs that their trees would be moved out of the way instead. Part of the deal was that rules would be put in place making their trees and their forest forbidden to everyone and thus they would be protected. The trees had been moved then, the land flattened and the building had started. Occasionally some nymphs would come out and coax all the workers, trolls and the founders included, into a dance and celebration to lighten the mood.

So they'd built the castle. Salazar had, each night for three days, copied out the different layers of the marauders map. While it still showed the outlines of each room within he castle and everything there, didn't show anybody moving, probably because Hogwarts didn't exist now though it had at the time of the map's creation. The castle had been built from the blueprints Salazar had given to Rowena who gave them to the trolls who would build the castle. Trolls weren't stupid in 998A.D which came as a surprise to Salazar though he supposed evolution just didn't do them any favours over time.

The castle before Salazar was only based on the blueprints though. Salazar had made changes to one or two places, adding secret passages here and there and, one night in secret after the dungeon levels had been built, adding the Chamber of secrets. Only five trolls knew about it's existence and they were sworn to secrecy. So, there were two sets of blueprints now. One which stayed with Rowena and the new set which the trolls kept until the completion and then the trolls had happily handed over the prints to Salazar.

Six months had passed since that day and Salazar found himself looking fondly upon their newly finished school. He was exhausted, physically and magically. The last six months had been very stressful for him but seeing the castle, an exact replica of the one he lived in the future, brought such tremendous joy over him that he had to slide to the floor because his legs had become unsteady.

The number of levitation charms Salazar and the others used had taken it's toll on them and the transfiguration spells he'd used to change the shape of the rocks had bored him. He had, however, managed to teach a few of the villagers of Hogsmeade the spells and they helped.

Surprisingly for busy villagers, who supposedly had no time to spare, many of them had helped the construction and decoration of the school.

Godric Gryffindor had claimed one tower as his own with the entrance to it on the seventh floor. Salazar was amused to notice that the tower Godric had chosen was in fact the place where the Gryffindor common room and dorms were in the future. Rowena's rooms were the rooms that would later become the library, though considering the amount of shelves she'd commanded be put up for her it made no wonder that in the future they made those rooms into one big library. Helga had taken the north tower, claiming that from that height her Inner Eye worked better. When Salazar had heard that he had very quickly excused himself and when he found himself in private allowed all his hysterical laughter to flow freely.

Salazar himself had made his living space on the seventh floor. He made them give him a grand total of six rooms. One which he'd use for entertaining, Rowena had insisted upon him having a room solely for that purpose, one as a bathroom and one as his bedroom. Another room was his study while the final two rooms were spare rooms though you had to go through the spare rooms in order to get to his other rooms. Rowena, Godric and Helga thought him mad for that but he'd insisted he'd wanted it and he got it regardless of their opinions. Apparently with the spare rooms coming before the occupied rooms there was more security for him.

There was no room of requirement yet and Salazar didn't know when that had been built. There was everything else that had been at Hogwarts in 1998 though. The Great Hall was just as big and they had charmed the ceiling to look like the sky outside, an idea Rowena had got from something a nymph had remarked to her. Apparently the nymphs had claimed that rooms weren't nice for they shut out the sky, Rowena cast the spell and after that the nymphs enjoyed partying inside where there was a lack or rain and snow dampening the wizards and trolls moods.

"And in the seventh month the gods rested." Salazar commented as the other three founders came up besides him. Rowena laughed and smacked him lightly over his head for the comment while Godric let out a huge booming laugh. Helga gave a small giggle though Salazar merely spared her a smile before turning back to Rowena.

"But the muggle God created the world in seven days." Rowena offered.

"Yes well to me the castle is a world." Rowena rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes and you would have tried to have the castle built in a week too, you are a slave driver."

"Well what do you think? It's finally completed and isn't it worth all the fuss?"

"Yes it is, and it is marvellous!" Rowena smiled at him fondly. Salazar pushed himself up onto his feet and pulled Rowena into a hug. She tensed up immensely at the sudden, improper contact but Salazar didn't notice as he pulled away and turned back to the castle looking at it with a very fond smile.

"My home. Oh how I have missed you." Salazar whispered the last sentence and luckily nobody heard him.

"Back to your earlier comment, about the seventh month being for rest…" Helga said softly and the other founders turned to her questioningly. "Might I suggest we use the time to prepare ourselves and make preparations for us to teach other wizards and witches? We have a lot to do still."

"And Rowena said I was a slave driver, Helga." Salazar commented lightly to the orange-haired woman. "But you are right. We have work to do and preparations to make. We have a school building now we need to make it into an actual school. We need our lessons to be planned and out students enrolled."

"Yes and how we are going to split the students into manageable groups. There are a lot of wizarding children out in the country and we couldn't possibly teach the lot in one of those small rooms." Godric said in reference to the rooms they had designated as the classrooms. All the rooms were on the first and ground floor around the main hall and ball rooms. All the accommodation was above it with the dungeon space designated as storage rooms.

"Why don't we split the students into groups then." Helga didn't make it a question.

"Yes, like houses within a house!" Rowena exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Salazar said in his slang which often got him into trouble with Rowena. "It would be like having clans within Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?!" Godric blanched, staring at Salazar. "By Merlin, what is Hogwarts?"

"The castle is Hogwarts." Salazar explained pointing to the castle.

"There is absolutely no way that the castle is being named Hogwarts! Where did you even come up with such a ridiculous name? No, I don't care, you are insane. You are not naming
the castle Hogwarts!"

"It's my castle so I get to name it!" Salazar protested childishly.

"Forget the name of the castle for now!" Rowena interrupted quickly knowing better than to let those two continue arguing for it would probably end up in another duel, one which Godric would lose and then be in a mood about for days. "If we are having different groups within Hogwarts what are they called, how are they chosen, how many do we have and how do we tell the groups apart?"

"Well we are the Founders of the school." Helga said. "And since we are such it would make sense to name the different clans after us would it not and have each of us be in charge of our different groups? And we shall each teach our groups personally."

"Yes I like that idea. The Clan of Gryffindor!" Godric said pulling his sword dramatically. Salazar rolled his eyes at him.

"Very well." Rowena consented. "The clans will be called Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."

"Certainly not!" Helga protested immediately. "I am to be Hatchedore not Hufflepuff!"

"Helga my dear you are not yet a Hatchedore, you are a Hufflepuff. You founded the school as a Hufflepuff thus the house in your honour will be called Hufflepuff and no it is not up for debate. Besides, it is an honour, you shall be known of for your name not the name of you husband."

"But…"

"Not up for debate my dear Helga." Salazar interrupted and then looked back at the castle with a grin. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Must we call it Hogwarts? It is such a fowl name!" Godric groaned and Salazar grinned cheekily at him.

"It's my castle."

"Gentlemen!" Rowena interrupted quickly. When they turned to look her she looked Godric in the eye. "If Salazar wants to call the castle he built Hogwarts then by all means let him." Rowena then turned to look at Salazar. "Must you act like a little boy? You are a man, now start acting like one."

"My dearest Rowena," Salazar said sweetly, "what you perceive to be a man is not what I perceive to be a man. Besides, where I am from I am not a man yet, I am still a boy. You people want children to grow up too fast."

"Might I ask how we shall distinguish our clan from each other's?" Rowena pondered that for a moment and Salazar let her, not wanting to suggest anything to start with.

"Since they are to be clans and the Scottish clans have different tartans to tell each other apart perhaps we should each have a tartan."

"Really? They would have to be very different from each other then and this means more money you realise." Godric informed Rowena.

"Yes but it is the best idea we have." Helga said. "Besides I like the idea. What colours and pattern should the tartans be?"

"Well what's your favourite colour Helga?" Salazar asked gently.

"Yellow. I like yellow best." Helga confessed blushing red making her hair clash horribly with her face.

"Well then, your clan colour should be yellow." Salazar decided.

"Yellow and something, we need a contrasting colour otherwise it wouldn't make a tartan." They all thought for a moment before Salazar remembered the contrasting colour in the future.

"What about black? Isn't that the colour of the brides?" When he received nods of confirmation he continued. "Well then Helga is to be a bride so her house colours should be yellow and black."

"And then white when I'm married." Helga nodded her accent.

"Helga, it would be symbolic of your heroic actions to create a school without your husband and before your marriage. It would be a testament to you. Besides, once your colours are made up into a tartan you aren't changing them. So, yellow and black or yellow and white it's your choice but you only get to choose once." Salazar knew he was being pushy but he absolutely detested how everything was about marriage for Helga and about her husband to be, who she hadn't actually met yet!

"Yellow and black then, since it is to be symbolic of our states when we created the school." Salazar grinned at Helga who was shocked at the warm response. She rarely saw Salazar act towards her with anything other than contempt.

"Right, that's Helga decided upon then. I would like red as mine, for that is the colour of bravery and courage."

"Red with what as your contrasting colour?" Rowena asked pulling out a piece of parchment and scratching the decisions onto the piece with her quill.

"Why not make it gold?" Salazar suggested with a teasing smirk. "Since Godric thinks of himself as the king lets give him red and gold then his house colours would symbolise courage and bravery along with wealth."

"I agree! It is perfect!" Godric exclaimed nodding his head in agreement. He never saw Salazar snicker about him. "And I suggest Silver for Salazar's house colour since he is so wealthy and silver symbolises purity."

"Purity?! You want me to have a house colour meaning purity?!" Salazar gawped at the man who smirked wickedly at him.

"I have yet to see you dirty Salazar, you act most like a girl in that sense." Salazar hissed at him and pulled his wand. Godric took a step back and laughed. "Merlin and as a house symbol you should have a snake for you sound much akin to one when you are mad!"

"House symbols too?! You are just making more work!" Rowena protested.

"Rowena, if the students have a symbol for which they work under then they will be proud of it and strive to be good for it, much like how fighting with your banner during war can lift the spirits of men. We shall each have a house symbol and I have decided Salazar's!"

"Then what should mine be for I can think of no animal that I suit." Helga asked and Salazar scowled.

"For your submissive behaviour and the way you like to hide away you can be a badger. A badger on yellow and black!"

"I will have you know that badgers are wonderful creatures, Salazar!" Helga protested and Salazar glared at her.

"Then you should have no problem with one symbolising your house then should you."

"Moving on!" Rowena cut in with an exasperated voice. To her, the other founders seemed to be acting the same way her son did when he was four and going through a horrible rebellion against absolutely everything.

"Rowena's colours should be purple I think, for I rarely see you out of the colour my dear lady." Godric offered Rowena before lowering himself too the ground to sit beside her.

"Purple is a dye which is hard and expensive to make. It would not do to have a tartan in that colour." Salazar smiled at Rowena's reply.

"Ever the practical one Rowena." He said. "How about blue then, it is close to purple in colour and it does match your eyes."

"Very well." Rowena wrote it down.

"And your contrast colour should be what?" Helga asked and the others thought for a moment. Salazar couldn't remember what the contrasting colour for Ravenclaw was in the future. They had scarves that were blue and white but there was no white on the shield just a large bronze eagle.

"I have an idea." He suggested slowly. "Since your name is Ravenclaw why not have a bird as your symbol but as you and your husband are not exactly amiable why not have another noble bird as your symbol. Like an eagle or something?"

"An eagle would be lovely, they are such wonderful birds."

"They are predators though which doesn't symbolise you at all."

"Don't be ridiculous Godric." Salazar protested. "Eagles don't just symbolise that! They symbolise grace in the air, they fly around looking down and analysing things. They are noble birds and I think it would suit Rowena very well indeed."

"It is decided then. Now my contrasting colour?" Rowena asked smiling at the thought of the majestic birds.

"Oh that's easy. Bronze, same colour as eagle feathers, not to mention your hair colour." Salazar suggested with a warm smile. Rowena beamed at him.

"Yes, I would like that very much."

"We're all sorted then, good thing too because I am so tired and smelly!" Salazar complained making to get up.

"What about Godric's symbol? And don't forget we only have one colour for you Salazar."

"I shall have a lion as my beast. It is a noble creature and a strong warrior. Not to mention it is half of my namesake!" Rowena nodded and wrote it down.

"You are so full of yourself Godric." Salazar told his elder making Godric roar at him to not insult him in such a way and that a man should boast about his accomplishments for how else were they supposed to show their authority over others without getting into a duel.

"Salazar's house colour then? What should that be? I do not think silver is good as a main colour, perhaps it would be better as a contrasting colour." Helga mused in a rare show of insight.

"Emerald green." Rowena suddenly said out of the blue. Everyone stared at her curiously. She blushed and looked down at the page. "Well green is the only colour not used up and it is the same colour as his eyes."

"You two seem to be commenting a lot about each other's eye colours." Helga said with a cautioning frown. Salazar shrugged oblivious to her meaning.

"I look up to Rowena, she reminds me of the girls and women from where I am from. She lets nobody tie her down and she knows what she wants in life. She is very much how I imagined my mother would have been like. I was told my mother stood up for what she believed in, fought against my father to get him to see the error in his ways before she would even consider marrying him. She also had a hot temper."

"Good and here I was suspecting something else." Salazar stared at Helga before scowling and grimacing.

"Ew! That is just…urgh Helga! Is that really all you think about? Marriage and men with their women? You have a narrow mind! I admire Rowena but never ever would I even consider thinking about her being anything more than a friend! Urgh! You are not to talk to me for the rest of the day! Ew!" Salazar turned towards the castle and headed towards it. "Sorry Rowena if I insulted you. Good evening everybody. I shall see you in the morning!"

End Note: Hurm.. Nothing much to say on this one! If you're confused about anything that's happened so far, just ask us your question in a review and we'll do our best to answer it at the start of the next chapter! Until then, hope you enjoyed it! -e